Stock market board game apparatus



INVENTOR ATTORNEY Peter B.Murroy P. B. MURRAY STOCK MARKET BOARD GAME APPARATUS Filed Jan. 5, 1962 FVG .3.

33 O/) Fm?.

March l, 1966 Fl G. e.

BROKER MONEY FIG.2.

United States Patent O 3,237,948 STOCK MARKET BOARD GAME APPARATUS Peter B. Murray, Swarthmore, Pa., assigner to Spencer- Murray Corporation, Swarthmore, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Jan. 5, 1962, Ser. No. 164,461 4 Claims. (Cl. 273-134) This invention relates to games of the type challenging a players skill wherein movable tokens are positioned on a game area as the result of each players successive selection of directions which control the movement of the tokens.

In board games using movable markers there has been employed the device of allowing for an election by the player of moves to be made from among alternative possible moves to result in a generally progressive advance of a marker along a pathway. As example, the choice of move acting to advance the marker may be selected by the player from among instruction cards or may be selected by a player from values indicated by such chance `devices as dice or spinners operated on each play as in racing games or games of finance. The use of player election of moves provides for introducing to the game the element of player skill .for enlivening the play.

This invention contemplates an improved and simplied game utilizing a game board which is divided into pathways representing any desired competitive group, and is columned to deiine spaces indicating the possible standings for each member of the group. Marker tokens are positioned on those spaces to represent the present standing of each member. Each player is dealt a num-ber of cards which bear directions for changing the standings of members in the group, some of the cards having directions which vary depending upon the relative standings of the .members of the group, the directions on each card `acting when selected by a player in his turn to advance the standing of at least one member and to reduce the standing of atleast one other member.

One embodiment of this invention may be applied to stock market transactions wherein the pathways represent commercial companies and the spaces along the pathways represent possible value of the stock shares of the companies. Stock certificates of the companies represented on the board may be bought and sold with play money by each player, who during his turn alters the value of two or more stocks by selecting one of the cards from his hand; there being no preexisting schedule of relative stock values.

Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a game which permits the use of a high degree of personal skill and ingenuity in the selection of directions for changing the standing of specific members of a group.

A further object of the invention is to provide a game in which the players may competitively manipulate stock prices up or down and buy and sell stocks to their advantage.

A further object of the invention is to provide a game where stock values iluctuate in the course of the game and may be readily ascertained by inspection of the game board.

Another object of the invention is to provide a highly entertaining, educational game which may be understood and enjoyed by adults and children alike.

These and other objects of this invention will become apparent from an examination of the drawings, description and claims. The accompanying drawings are to be considered as an exemplification of the invention and do not constitute limitations thereof.

In the drawings:

FIGURE l is a plan view of the playing board of this invention showing the stock value scale positioned cen- ICC trally thereon, markers positioned on the pathways and the market bank portions on either side of the stock value scale having spaces for stock certificates, play money and market action cards;

FIGURE 2. shows a market action card bearing dire-ctions from one of the decks of market action cards;

FIGURE 3 shows market `action cards from each of twod groups of cards of a second deck of market action car s;

FIGURE 4 shows market action cards from each of the two groups of cards of a third deck of the market action cards;

FIGURE 5 shows a stock certificate;

FIGURE 6 shows a bill of play money;

FIGURE 7 shows marker tokens for denoting stock prices on the stock value scale.

Referring to the drawings, FIGURE 1 shows a typical game board 10 of this invention. The board, which may be made of any stiff material such as cardboard, paper, or plastic, has a playing area bounded by sides 11, 12, 13, and 14 and having a stock value scale 15 in the form of an elongated rectangle which is positioned centrally across the length of the board and which has border lines 16, 17, 18, and 19. A market bank area having portions 20 and 21 is arranged on opposite sides of the stock value scale.

Stock value scale 15 is `divided along its length into a plurality of longitudinal pathways 22, 23, 24, and 2S which bear symbol-s 26, 27, 28, and 29 representing the companies whose stock shares arebought and sold during the game. Each pathway may be color-coded according to the company, if so desired. The pathways of the stock value scale are vertical-ly divided into a plurality of spaces 30 forming a series of columns 31, each indicating the price of a share of stock of each company in increasing increments from border 16 to border 18. These prices are located in spaces 32 at the top and bottom of each column so that players on all sides of the board may readily determine the value of all stocks. Marker tokens 33 (see FIGURE 7) are positioned along the pathways as shown in FIGURE 1 to designate the present value of stock prices as the game progresses. Play money 3S is supplied in denominations of $10, $50, $100, $500, $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000 4for buying and selling stocks and is placed on the appropriate play money spaces 36 in market bank portion 20.

In addition, stock certificates 37 representing stock shares in each company are provided to evidence each players holdings. The stock certificates of each company are initially divided into two groups of diierent denominations, certificates of one and five share value being placed on spaces 38 and certificates of more than one or five share value being placed on spaces 39, both spaces being located in market bank portion 21. The spaces, as shown by FIGURE l, have indicia, eg., names, which are identical to those on the stock certificate-s (as illustrated in FIGURE 5) that are to be placed thereon.

The names of the following companies are used in the embodiment of the game illustrated:

PROTON ELECTRONICS-abbreviation: PE GOLDEN EAGLE AIRLINE-abbreviatiom GEA RIVER ROUGE MOTORS-abbreviation: RRM SAPPHIRE CARTEL-abbreviation: SC

These companies may be further represented by decorative symbols (not shown) which may be placed on the appropriate stock certificates, marker tokens, and market action cards. (See FIGURE l.)

Market action cards 40 have directions for altering the stock values. As these cards are played by each player in turn they are deposited face up on space 41 of the game board. One complete set of sixty-eight market action cards is comprised of three differing decks of cards as follows: One deck of $100 cards 42, one deck of double cards consisting of cards 43 and 44 and one deck of intermixed $60 cards 45 and $40 cards 46.

The deck of $100 cards 42 is comprised of twelve cards, there being three such cards for each company. Each card in this deck has directions which increase the price of the stock of the company represented thereon by $100 while decreasing the price of all other stocks by $20. A second deck of twenty-four double cards (see FIGURE 3) is equally divided into two groups of cards 43 and 44, there being three cards in each group for each company. Each card 43 has directions which double the price of the stock of the company listed thereon and at the same time halve the price of any stock of the players choice. Each card 44 has directions which double the price of the stock of any company selected by the player while halving the stock denoted thereon. The third deck of cards making up the set of market action cards is also composed of two groups of cards 45 and 46 with sixteen cards in each group. Cards 45, which are called $60 cards, have directions which raise the price of one stock $60 and decrease the price of any stock of the players choice by $30. Cards 46, called $40 cards, similarly provide two changes in the stock price structure, one which raises the price of any stock selected at the players option by $40 while the other acts to decrease the price of a stock stated thereon by $50.

Each of the market action cards as well as the stock certificates may be color-coded according to the company which they represent. Furthermore, the market action cards can be made to include several concurrent sets of instructions on each card to vary the complexity of the game. Also it is contemplated that other criteria affecting stock prices may be incorporated into the deck of market action cards to provide additional variations in the stock market prices.

Having now described the game board, the market bank, the stock value scale, stock certificates, play money, and market action cards, a method of play will become apparent after attention is directed to the following description of procedure and recitation of rules.

The game board is placed face up in front of the players and the marker tokens placed in the $100 column on the respective pathways of the stock value scale of each company, the stock value of each company thus arbitrarily starting at $100 a share. Each player is supplied three $100 bills of play money, the rest of the money and all of the stock certificates being placed on the appropriate market bank portions of the board previously designated for each denomination of money and class of stock certificate. The market action cards are first separated into three component decks of $100 cards, double cards, and $40 and $60 cards. Each deck is separately shufiied and the cards of each deck separately dealt, each player being dealt a hand of cards as follows: two $100 cards, three double cards and five mixed $40 and $60 cards for a total of ten cards. These hands are held concealed from the other players. Each player now takes his turn in successive order. The dealer plays first. A player must play one of his market action cards and move the tokens as directed so that stock prices are changed. In his turn a player may buy and sell stock both before and after he has played a market action card except as limited by the Key Rule, always attempting by skillful selection of the card played to so alter stock prices that he may acquire the greatest amount of stocks and money while -forcing other players to lose money and stocks. The primary object of the game is to have the most money in cash and stocks after the last card has been played.

The rules which govern the players actions are as follows:

(1) Players take turns in clockwise order, each player playing a market action card, the dealer playing first.

(2) Players may buy and sell stocks from and to the market bank both before and after playing their cards, but only during their turn, by taking money from portion 20 and depositing stock certificates in portion 21 when selling stock, and taking up stock certificates from portion 21 and depositing money in portion 20 of the market bank when buying stock.

(3) Players do not sell or buy stock between themselves.

(4) The Key Rule of the game is that when a player buys shares of a companys stock and then plays a card to increase the price of that companys stock, he may not sell any stock of the company during that turn but must wait for a subsequent turn; likewise, when a player sells shares of a companys stock, and then plays a card to decrease its price he cannot buy back any shares of that companys stock until his next turn.

(5) Play continues until all cards dealt have been played, but the last player may buy no stocks in his final turn.

(6) When cards are played they are placed face up on the space provided on the board. Once played, cards may not be taken back by the players, and players are not permitted to look under the top card.

(7) When a card is played advancing a companys stock price above $250 on the stock value scale, each player having stock in that company receives lfrom the market bank a dividend in play money of an amount per share of stock equal to that amount above $250 which the stock price has increased and the marker token of the stock is set at $250 on the stock value scale.

(8) When play decreases a stock price below $10, each player having stock in that company pays into the market bank a fixed penalty of $20 for each share of that stock which he holds or optionally may forfeit each stock share to the market bank for which he does not pay a penalty. Other stocks may not be sold to pay this penalty. Any shares forfeited may be bought in the same turn by the player whose turn it is. When a player has no money and is forced to forfeit all of his stock he is automatically out of the game.

(9) When a stock price is cut in half, if the new price is not listed in one of the price columns, the stock price is set at the next lowest price which appears on the stock value scale.

(10) When all cards which were dealt have been played, players sell their remaining stocks to the market bank at the final prices shown on the board, the winner of the game being the player then having the most money.

The following situation exemplifies a typical procedure for playing the game. Two players, A and B are holding their last three cards, and the marker tokens show the values of the stocks of each company to be as follows: GEA $20; PE, $60; SC, $100; and RRM, $80. Player A has $1,000 in play money. His three cards are: GEA up $60 and a choice of moving any stock down $30, a choice to double any stock and decrease RRM to half its value, and GEA up and all other stocks down $20. Player B has $100 and his three cards are: RRM double and a choice of stock down one-half a choice of stock up $40 and GEA down $50, and PE up $100 and all other stocks down $20.

It is As turn to play and by careful inspection of his hand and the prices of the stock on the board he sees that he is in a good position to make money by buying GEA. He buys fifty shares of GEA for $1,000 and then plays the card from his hand which raises GEAs price by $60 a share. A raises GEA this moderate amount first because he realizes that B may have a card which 'would reduce GEA by one-half and that it would be better to lose half of $60 than half of $100.

A does not waste his double card on this first play because he reasons that to double the price from $200 to $40 will not increase the value of his stock as much as if he doubles the price from $80 or $180 a share later after he has pushed it up once or twice.

When player A has bought fifty shares of GEA stock and has played his card raising GEAs price from $20 to $80, he also chooses SC to decrease, since it is so high. Then A moves the tokens to show these changes.

Now it is Bs turn. B desires to make A lose money, and still make money himself. He sees that his card cutting GEAs price by $50 a share will cost his opponent the most, and that a good choice would be to increase RRM $40. He chooses RRM because his double card can help only RRM. So he buys twelve shares of RRM for $960 and plays the card increasing its price $40 and decreasing GEAs $50 down to $30 a share. The tokens are then moved by B to show these changes and B tells A that it is his turn.

A cannot stick to his original plan, for he has remembered how many double cards B has played and knows he has another. He suspects B is about to double RRM, increasing its value to $240 a share. If A sticks to his original plan and increases GEA $100 now, he will only reduce RRM by $20, and B will still be able to double it to $200 a share. To prevent this big profit for B, A doubles GEA and cuts RRM in half, to $60 a share. A moves the tokens to show these changes and tells B to take his turn.

The game now proceeds rapidly with each player moving the tokens at the end of his turn. B doubles RRM, halves GEA, and then sells his twelve shares of RRM for $1440. He buys twenty-four shares of PE for $1440. A plays his last card, increasing GEA from $30 a share to $130 a share. All other stocks decrease by $20 a share. A then sells his fifty shares of GEA for 50 times $130=$6500. B plays his card increasing PE $100 a share and decreasing all others by $20 a share. The game is over. B has $40 cash and twenty-four shares of PE at $140 a share, for a total of $3400. A, having $6500, is the winner.

It will be appreciated that the simpliied arrangement and operation of the stock value scale and the markers thereon, the orderly accountability of the market bank assets provided by the arrangement of the market bank areas on the game board, and the number and variety of free choices of stock prices provided by the market action cards combine to produce an entertaining game wherein players use a much higher degree of skill in manipulating stock prices than has been heretofore possible.

From the foregoing it will be obvious that during play each instruction card acts to advance a marker token and to cause the retreat of another resulting in the continuous fluctuation of relative standings and these standings are in part controlled by player election of the markers to be effected through lselection of the instructions used. It is also obvious that the cards bearing instructions for altering stock values by a multiple or a divider such as double or one-half will vary in value during the game depending on the present positions of the markers thereby effecting the positions of the markers by a greater incremental amount at ceratin times than at other times.

It is further apparent that a player is accorded not only a choice between alternative instructions from among which a selection may be made but that certain instructions after selection provide a further choice in selecting markers to be governed by the instruction selected.

It will be further appreciated that additional cards may :be provided which bear directions for altering the position of a movable means which have varying effects depending on the relation of its present position to the position of at least one of the other movable means. As in the present embodiment one movable token would be directed to move to a position having a value $20 greater than the value indicated by one of the other movable tokens.

While the novel features of the invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claims, it is to be understood that various omissions, substitutions, and changes in construction and arrangement of the parts shown and described may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A stock market game for two or more players com- -prising a game vboard having a playing area including a stock price scale and a lmarket bank porti-on having spaces designated thereon for receiving stock certificates; said stock price scale having a plurality of pathways, each pathway indicating a different stock, pieces of play money positioned adjacent to said playing area for buying shares of stock from said players, stock certiiicates stacked on each of the spaces on said market bank portion representing all of the shares of stock available for sale to the players, additional play money to be held by the players, said stock certificates having indicia designating the companies represented thereby and said spaces having indicia identical to those on the stock certificates stacked thereon, movable marker means positioned on said stock price scale indicating the current price of each stock, a plurality of market action cards containing different price changes for effecting movement of said marker means to concurrently provide an increase in the price of at least one stock and a decrease in at least one of the others, said cards being adapted to be manipulated by each player to direct opposite movement of at least two of said moveable marker means on said stock price scale; buying of stocks being effected by removing stock certificates from said playing area and by placing play money adjacent to said playing area; selling of stocks being effected by taking play money from adjacent said playing area and by placing stock certificates on the spaces having their identical indicia, thereby causing the number of stock certificates stacked on the spaces on said playing area to increase and decrease during the course of play.

2. The stock market game of claim 1 in which at least one of said cards has directions which produce a greater change in the value of said stocks than some of the other cards.

3. The stock vmarket game of claim 1 in which at least one of said cards has directions which vary the values of said stocks proportionately to their present values.

4. The stock market game of claim 1 in which at least one of said cards has directions which have varying effects on the value of one of the stocks depending on the relation of the position of its movable marker means to the position of at least one of the other movable marker means.

References Cited bythe Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,760,287 5/1930 Schippers 273-135 2,371,575 3/1945 Trimble 273-136 2,666,644 1/1954 Strehlow et al 273-134 2,794,642 6/1957 ONeill 273-134 FOREIGN PATENTS 171,844 12/1921 Great Britain. 505,365 5/ 1939 Great Britain.

DELBERT B. LOWE, Primary Examiner.

JAMES W. LOVE, Examiner.

EVERETT R. ZACK, WILLIAM R. BROWNE,

Assistant Examiners. 

1. A STOCK MARKET GAME FOR TWO OR MORE PLAYERS COMPRISING A GAME BOARD HAVING A PLAYING AREA INCLUDING A STOCK PRICE SCALE AND A MARKET BANK PORTION HAVING SPACES DESIGNATED THEREON FOR RECEIVING STOCK CERTIFICATES; SAID STOCK PRICE SCALE HAVING A PLURALITY OF PATHWAYS, EACH PATHWAY INDICATING A DIFFERENT STOCK, PIECES OF PLAY MONEY POSITIONED ADJACENT TO SAID PLAYING AREA FOR BUYING SHARES OF STOCK FORM SAID PLAYERS, STOCK CERTIFICATES STACKED ON EACH OF THE SPACES ON SAID MARKET BANK PORTION REPRESENTING ALL OF THE SHARES OF STOCK AVAILABLE FOR SALE TO THE PLAYERS, ADDITIONAL PLAY MONEY TO BE HELD BY THE PLAYERS, SAID STOCK CERTIFICATES HAVING INDICIA DESIGNATING THE COMPANIES REPRESENTED THEREBY AND SAID SPACES HAVING INDICIA IDENTICAL TO THOSE ON THE STOCK CERTIFICATES STACKED THEREON, MOVABLE MARKER MEANS POSITIONED ON SAID STOCK PRICE SCALE INDICATING THE CURRENT PRICE OF EACH STOCK, A PLURALITY OF MARKET ACTION CARDS CONTAINING DIFFERENT PRICE CHANGES FOR EFFECTING MOVEMENT OF SAID MARKER MEANS TO CONCURRENTLY PROVIDE AN INCREASE IN THE PRICE OF AT LEAST ONE STOCK AND A DECREASE IN AT LEAST ONE OF THE OTHERS, SAID CARDS BEING ADAPTED TO BE MANIPULATED BY EACH PLAYER TO DIRECT OPPOSITE MOVEMENT OF AT LEAST TWO OF SAID MOVEABLE MARKER MEANS ON SAID STOCK PRICE SCALE; BUYING OF STOCKS BEING EFFECTED BY REMOVING STOCK CERTIFICATES FROM SAID PLAYING AREA AND BY PLACING PLAY MONEY ADJACENT TO SAID PLAYING AREA; SELLING OF STOCKS BEING EFFECTED BY TAKING PLAY MONEY FROM ADJACENT SAID PLAYING AREA AND BY PLACING STOCK CERTIFICATES ON THE SPACES HAVING THEIR IDENTICAL INDICIA, THEREBY CAUSING THE NUMBER OF STOCK CERTIFICATES STACKED ON THE SPACES ON SAID PLAYING AREA TO INCREASE AND DECREASE DURING THE COURSE OF PLAY. 